Education for Reconciliation: Non-Indigenous Teachers’ Stories of Journeying, Learning, Unlearning, and Negotiating Discomfort and Possibility
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This doctoral research explored the lived experiences of two experienced, in-service, non-Indigenous elementary teachers as they engaged in ongoing journeys of learning and unlearning in response to their personal and professional commitments to reconciliation. Interwoven throughout are my own unfolding reflections as a non-Indigenous Treaty person, navigating what it means to live ethically and relationally on this Land I call home. Rooted in relational responsibilities to story, community, and humanity, this study examined how non-Indigenous educators negotiated their roles within Albertaʼs public school system while living out their responsibilities as Treaty people. The context for this inquiry was framed by Albertaʼs Teaching Quality Standard and the Calls to Action from Canadaʼs Truth and Reconciliation Commission, though these were not the impetus for the research. Research Gatherings with the two co-researcher participants took place monthly, both virtually and in person over the course of a school year. Honouring narrative inquiry and Indigenous Storywork methodologies, the research explores narrative accounts shaped by personal, social, historical, cultural, and institutional narratives. The dissertation itself is composed through story, poetry, oral sharing, and photostory, reflecting an embodied and multimodal approach to knowledge. It highlights the complexities, tensions, and supports they encountered while striving to live out their commitments, as well as the moments of possibility that emerged. Guidance from Indigenous advisors, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers, three of whom participated in Circle Gatherings, shaped this study, particularly the teachings of two Elders whose insights deeply influenced the work. Ongoing mentorship also held me accountable to relational and respectful practices and protocol throughout. A central contribution of this research is the development of an original pedagogy of journeying—comprising wondering, wandering, venturing, grounding, and living—which reflects the nonlinear and relational nature of journeys in the spirit of reconciliation. This work offers the understanding that spaces for reconciliation are not inherently held within school systems; they must be intentionally created, nurtured, and protected. It underscores the importance of leaning into discomfort as a vital site for learning and growth, and honours stories that reflect tension, humility and vulnerability, curiosity, listening, and leaning in wholeheartedly. These narratives remind us that the pedagogy of journeying, and the stories lived in-between, are cyclical—with discomfort at their core—serving as invitations and opportunities for transformation. This insight calls on non-Indigenous educators to imagine and create spaces where relational, heart-led work is not only possible, but essential.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.009 | 0.013 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.037 | 0.039 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.012 | 0.010 |
| Open science | 0.003 | 0.012 |
| Research integrity | 0.003 | 0.009 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.003 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".